MY TALKING TOM KEEPS KIDS CONTENT

My Talking Tom is a worldwide hit with those who are young at heart and enjoy a good mobile game. It’s a free download for Lumia smartphones on the Windows Phone Store.

By downloading the app you adopt a little kitten and the fun starts right away. You name the cat, take care of him and help him grow into a fully-grown “Tom” cat.

You can feed him snacks, take him to the bathroom, pet him and put him to bed. For doing this, you gain levels as the little cat grows right before your eyes.

By gaining levels you don’t only see your cat grow towards adulthood, you also unlock access to more wardrobe items: you can dress your cat in various hats, different colours of fur and other accessories. You can also decorate all four rooms in his apartment and increase the variety of foodstuffs you can feed him. Strawberries and French fries are the initial choices to feed him with, but there’s a lot more to offer him, from vegetables and fruits to desserts and funny potions and much more.
Unlike some other ‘Tamagotchi’ style games, it’s not possible to kill your virtual cat through neglect, it seems. You just don’t make any progress towards the next level. I left my “Tom” without access to the bathroom, and all he did was whine. The app also sent me reminders through the Window Phone alarm system. If only real cats were so accommodating.

The 3D graphics, animations and sound effects are well-done and reward engaging your cat in activities. They also increase the emotional connection between you or your child and the cat. There are also mini-games built in that add to the variety of proceedings. While the game won’t entertain adults for more than two minutes, children can find Tom utterly addictive.

One note to parents. You can buy ‘coins’ in the game to purchase extra accessories and get rid of adverts. This is done through a direct link between the game and the Windows Phone Store, and is a quick and easy process.

It’s arguably a little too “quick and easy” to get coins since it can take two taps to spend £80 on coins. Set a PIN number on the Store to prevent small fingers spending your cash on that ungrateful cat. You do this at Settings->Applications->Store.

Aside from that, My Talking Tom is a fun way to keep children occupied. Just don’t plan on making any phone calls once you’ve handed over your Lumia.

Try it on your kids and friends. Let us know how they get on.